KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City will play in a championship game with a chance to advance to the Super Bowl for the ninth time in franchise history.
Beginning with the 1966 season, the AFL and NFL agreed to a merger, but the leagues maintained separate regular seasons and declared their own champions for the first four seasons, with the winners meeting in a new cross-league championship game, which Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt named the Super Bowl.
Third-seeded Kansas City will play in the penultimate game before the Super Bowl for the ninth time in franchise history at 2 p.m. Sunday against the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens at M&T Stadium.
The game marks the sixth straight AFC Championship Game appearance for coach Andy Reid’s team, the second-longest streak in NFL history behind the 2011-18 New England Patriots.
The Chiefs are 5-3 in previous AFL Championship/AFC Championship Game appearances in the Super Bowl era, including 3-2 in the Patrick Mahomes era. Here’s how they’ve fared:
1966 AFL Championship
Jan. 1, 1967, at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York
Chiefs 31, Bills 7
Highlights: Fred Arbanas and Otis Taylor each caught 29-yard touchdown passes from Len Dawson, while Mike Garrett put the hammer down with two fourth-quarter touchdown runs in a lopsided win that sent the Chiefs on to Super Bowl I.
Dawson finished 16 of 24 for 227 yards, including Taylor’s five catches for 78 yards, and added 28 yards rushing.
Johnny Robinson and Emmitt Thomas both picked off Bob Dole’s future vice presidential running mate Jack Kemp, who also got sacked by Bobby Bell, Buck Buchanan, Jerry Mays and Andy Rice.
Super Bowl result: Lost 35-10 against Green Bay in Super Bowl I at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1969 AFL Championship
Jan. 4, 1970, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California
Chiefs 17, Raiders 7
Highlights: The Chiefs fell behind by a touchdown in the first quarter but scored 17 unanswered points to return to the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons.
Wendell Hayes and Robert Holmes scored on short touchdown runs, and Jan Stenerud added a short field goal to ice the win in the fourth quarter.
Len Dawson was only 7 of 17 for 129 yards, completing three passes for 62 yards to Otis Taylor, as Oakland outgained Kansas City 233-207 but fell short in a game that saw the Chiefs lose four fumbles.
Those turnovers were offset by four Daryle Lamonica interceptions, two by Emmitt Homas and one each by Jim Kearney and Jim Marsalis, while Aaron Brown racked 2 1/2 sacks.
Super Bowl result: Won 23-7 against Minnesota in Super Bowl IV at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans
1993 AFC Championship Game
Jan. 23, 1994, at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, New York
Bills 30, Chiefs 13
Highlights: The Chiefs only trailed 7-6 after the first quarter, but the Bills scored the next 13 points in pulling away.
Kansas City got within 20-13 on a Marcus Allen touchdown plunge in the third quarter, but Joe Montana got knocked from the game with a concussion and Buffalo dominated the fourth quarter.
Montan finished 9 for 23 for 125 yards and his backup, Dave Krieg, went 16 of 29 for 198 yards, but both threw interceptions.
Meanwhile, Thurman Thomas gashed the Chiefs for 186 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries as the Bills reached (and lost) a fourth straight Super Bowl.
Super Bowl result: Cowboys 30, Bills 13
2018 AFC Championship Game
Jan. 20, 2019, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
New England 37, Kansas City 31 (OT)
Highlights: Dee Ford lined up offside on Charvarius Ward’s potential game-winning interception in the final two minutes of regulation.
That’s how Chiefs fans remember the game, but the reality is that the Patriots dominated the first half and led 14-0 at intermission before Patrick Mahomes led a stirring comeback.
Mahomes only completed 16 of 31 passes, but he input 295 yards and three fourth-quarter touchdowns, including two to Damien Williams and another to Travis Kelce.
Sammy Watkins caught four passes for 114 yards for a Kansas City team that trailed 17-7 after three quarters, then exploded for 24 points in the fourth quarter, forcing overtime on Harrison Butker’s 39-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining.
New England had retaken the lead, 31-28, with 39 seconds left on a 4-yard Rex Burkhead touchdown — a play that came two snaps after Ward’s pick could have sealed the game.
Kansas City never got the ball in overtime, but, funnily enough, the NFL didn’t change its overtime rules until the Chiefs won a game in OT a few years later without the opposing team getting a possession.
Super Bowl result: Patriots 13, Rams 3
2019 AFC Championship Game
Jan. 19, 2020, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
Chiefs 35, Titans 24
Highlights: Kansas City returned to the Super Bowl for the first time in a half-century after overcoming a 10-0 first-quarter hole to dominate Tennessee.
The Chiefs scored three touchdowns in the final 16 minutes of the first half, including Patrick Mahomes’ ridiculous spin-cycle adventure down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left before halftime.
Damien Williams’ 3-yard TD run and Mahomes’ 60-yard bomb to Sammy Watkins finished off the Titans in the fourth quarter.
Mahomes finished 23 of 35 for 294 yards with three touchdowns, adding another 53 yards and a touchdown on the ground as Watkins racked up seven catches for 114 yards.
Tanoh Kpassagnon had two sacks of Ryan Tannehill.
Super Bowl result: Won 31-20 against San Francisco in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida
2020 AFC Championship Game
Jan. 24, 2021, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
Chiefs 38, Bills 24
Highlights: The Bills led 9-0 after the first quarter — Tyler Bass missed an extra point! — but the Chiefs got cooking with three second-quarter touchdowns and never looked back.
Mecole Hardman Jr. caught a 3-yard pass before Darrel Williams and Clyde Edwards-Helaire scored on the ground as Kansas City ripped off 21 straight points in an 8-minute span.
Travis Kelce caught two second-half touchdowns to ice the game, finishing with an absurd 13 catches for 118 yards.
Patrick Mahomes went 29 for 38 for 325 yards with three touchdowns, while Tyreek Hill popped off for 172 receiving yards.
Frank Clark paced the defense with two sacks.
That was arguably the best team of the Mahomes era, a dominant force during the regular season and AFC playoffs, but left tackle Eric Fisher’s Achilles injury late in the game would prove pivotal two weeks later when the Chiefs — down both starting offensive tackles — got overrun by the Buccaneers in the quest for a Super Bowl repeat.
Super Bowl result: Lost 31-9 against Tampa Bay in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
2021 AFC Championship Game
Jan. 30, 2022, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
Bengals 27, Chiefs 24 (OT)
Highlights: The Chiefs were coming off a scintillating Divisional Round overtime win against Buffalo — “The 13-Second Game,” which forever changed NFL overtime rules when Josh Allen and the Bills didn’t get a possession in overtime.
Cincinnati hit town with plenty of moxie led by Macaulay Culkin stand-in Joe Burrow, who rallied the Bengals from a 21-3 first-half hole in out-dueling Patrick Mahomes.
Kansas City went scorched Earth early with Mahomes, who finished 26 of 39 for 275 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, darting TDs to Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and Mecole Hardman Jr. in building an 18-point lead.
But Burrow’s 41-yard touchdown to Samaje Perine with 1:05 remaining before halftime helped shift the momentum, and the Chiefs never recovered.
Cincy scored 21 straight points to take the lead before Harrison Butker sent the game to overtime with a 44-yard field goal at the gun.
Jessie Bates picked off a deep Mahomes pass intended for Hill on the first possession in overtime, setting the stage for Evan McPherson’s game-winning field goal.
Super Bowl result: Rams 23, Bengals 20
2022 AFC Championship Game
Jan. 29, 2023, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
Chiefs 23, Bengals 20
Highlights: Burrowhead, you say? The Bengals flapped their gums like a heavyweight contender before a boxing title fight — perhaps with good reason after sweeping three games, two in the regular season and the previous AFC title game, against the Chiefs.
Kansas City again powered to a first-half lead with Patrick Mahomes’ touchdown to Travis Kelce, who finished with seven receptions for 78 yards, leading to a 13-6 halftime lead.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who had six catches for 116 yards, caught a 19-yard touchdown sandwiched around two Cincinnati scores that had the game tied before Harrison Butker’s game-winning 45-yard field goal with 3 seconds left, delivering a third Super Bowl appearance in four seasons for the Chiefs.
Mahomes finished 29 of 43 for 326 yards with two touchdowns, while Burrow went 26 of 41 for 270 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Chris Jones and Frank Clark combined for 3 1/2 sacks and eight QB hits, while then-rookie cornerbacks Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson picked off Burrow.
Super Bowl result: Won 38-35 against Philadelphia in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
2023 AFC Championship Game
2 p.m. Sunday at M&T Stadium in Baltimore
Chiefs at Ravens:
Analysis: The reigning MVP (Patrick Mahomes) faces the presumptive MVP (Lamar Jackson) in the first postseason clash between two of the NFL’s elite QBs.
Mahomes has a much more accomplished postseason résumé, including six AFC Championship Game appearances in six seasons as the starter.
Kansas City is 3-2 in those previous games, all at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, with both losses coming in overtime.
The Ravens have the NFL’s best defense and one of the most dynamic dual-threat QBs in NFL history in Jackson, so the Chiefs face arguably their toughest title-game test — and not solely because it’s on the road.
Super Bowl opponent: The winner faces the winner of the NFC Championship Game (Detroit at San Francisco) in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
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